Goodnight, Spider-Man
by MadelynFrost
Summary: Miles Morales has to once again face the fact that he can't save everyone. It is not a weight a 15 year old should have to bear. Jefferson Davis is on duty after the incident when he notices Spider-Man, who is completely devastated. Davis knows what that feels like. Maybe he can help.


Goodnight, Spider-Man

It was late, later than Jefferson Davis would like to be on his shift, but in emergencies like these New York needs all hands on deck. The aftermath of a robbery was being monitored, all ten robbers webbed up and being dragged into custody. Despite what is seen on T.V, armed bank robberies are few and far between. But even still, there was a robbery- and a casualty.

"How's that lady going to fair out, Johnson?" Officer Davis asked as an elderly lady got gently placed into the back of an ambulance. Officer Johnson simply shook his head.

"Two bullet wounds in her left hip. To a young person they might've pulled through, but with her years stacked against her... It's unlikely..." he said solemnly. Jefferson sighed and looked past the chaos. Sitting in the dark on a chipped curb, Spider-Man sat completely devastated. His head hung low and his arms subconsciously hugged himself. Taking a deep breath, Jefferson approached the hero.

"Spider-Man. Good work tonight." He said. He wasn't lying. Spider-Man prevented 16 other casualties in that hostage situation. But his words mostly frightened Spidey, who had been deep in thought.

"Oh... yeah, you to..." His fake deep voice was cracking. Standing up his a shaky sigh, he quietly spoke. "How's that woman? Is she?"

"She's... alive. But we don't know if she'll pull through..." Jefferson said with a singe in his voice. Spidey stood quietly, he seemed smaller, almost like a child. After a long while, Spider-Man tried to speak.

"I could have jumped the other way, away from her. They were shooting at me after all. But instead she's-" Spider-Man's voice completely sealed off. Spider-Man snatched a web onto a nearby building and turned his slouching body towards Davis.

"It looks like you guys have everything all figured out here-"

"Wait, Spider-Man." Spidey looked over his slumped shoulder to show he was listening. "You did a really good job tonight. A lot of people get to go home because of you, but the hardest thing about protecting the city is... you can't always save everyone..." Spider-Man let go of his web and turned to Officer Davis. Davis kneeled in front of Spider-Man like he would with Miles. Spidey slouched defeatedly like a child would, avoiding eye contact. He looked so small and helpless. "Spider-Man... I know your just a kid." Spidey jolted back defensively. "I don't know if your parents or guardians know about your alter-ego or anything, but this is a heavy weight to carry. I'm 36 and I still have nightmares about those who I couldn't get to in time." Spider-Man sniffled at Jefferson's words. Putting his hands on Spider-Man's shoulders, Jefferson lifted his chin up. "You're not alone Spidey. You can talk to me." Spider-Man quickly buried his face into Davis and squeezed him tightly. Jefferson hugged him back gently. He noticed cameras flashing at the touching scene between Spidey and a cop. Wanting to avoid the paparazzi, Jeff pulled Spidey behind his car.

"Hey man, let me drive you home. It's been a rough day for you." Davis offered the hero who contemplated his options.

"You're umph, not gunna arrest me, right?" He said in a mumbled, quiet tone.

"Not this time." Davis joked. "You can sit shotgun." To Jefferson's surprise, Spider-Man nodded his head and slid sneakily into the cop car. Jeff shrugged and got in as well, carefully driving through the crowds of people. The radio played a song that was far to happy for their demeanors. Spidey rested his head on the glass and stared at the moving sidewalk, like out of some emo film. Davis kept glancing over to see if the vigilante was doing ok. He looked so fragile.

"Ahem, so Spider-Man, what neck of the woods do you live in?"

"Brooklyn."

"Really? That's where I live, too, actually. You go to school there?"

"..." Jeff almost forgot he was talking to *the* Spider-Man and not some kid.

"Oh yeah, sorry. It's just my son used to go to Brooklyn Middle, and now he attends Visions Academy, so I thought it'd be wild if he went to school with-"

"Where are we going Officer?"

"To Brooklyn."

"This seems like an odd detour..." Spider-Man looked ready to jump from the vehicle.

"*Sigh* OK, I just wanted to stop by-" As they pulled up to the building Spider-Man got confusingly excited.

"Fish-fil-a?!" Spidey said eagerly like a child.

"Hehe, that's right. It's been a tough day, thought you might want a meal on me. Just don't tell my son, this is his favorite place to eat and he would kill me if I went without him." Spider-Man laughed.

"Yeah ok. Can I get a fillet sandwich?"

"Yeah man." Jefferson said as he drove up to the speakers.

"Can I get two- no, three fillet sandwiches?"

"Sure thing that'll be 42 dollars." Jeff turned to Spidey

"Might as well bring one home to Miles." He could tell that Spider-Man was smiling under the mask.

"Officer Davis, why are you being so nice to me? Usually cops don't like me, let alone buy me food." He asked as they pulled up to the window, the lady's jaw dropping to the floor as Jeff handed her his card.

"You know, I used to not like 'Spider-Man,' but when the other- when he-"

"Yeah, I know..."

"Well, I felt bad. This guy had everyone at his back, even the police. I can't help but think that if he had help, more could have been done..." They both had a moment of silence in the car together.

"Y-your filet sandwiches... Sp-Spider-Man?" The petrified minimum wage worker sputtered.

"You know that's funny, I get that a lot." Spidey joked with a charismatic finger gun. Jefferson laughed heartily as they drove off.

"Man, your hilarious..." as they sat in the smells of their food, neither quite comfortable enough to eat it yet, Davis sighed. "I just gotta know man, you have other people who know about this right? Your family?" Spider-Man sat still in conviction. "I don't mean to tell you what to do or nothin,' but my brother- he never told anyone about his life he had. It ended up killing him. I don't know what I would have done if he had told me, but maybe, just maybe, he would still be here today..." He stopped the car on a dark, lonely street in Brooklyn. After a long moment of complete silence, Davis turned to Spider-Man.

"You have someone you can trust, right?" Spidey stared right into Davis's eyes.

"I... think so..." to Jefferson's surprise, Spidey started to pull the mask off. Quickly stopping him, Davis said,

"No... you don't have to tell me, I mean like your family. Plus, I have cameras and stuff in the car." Spider-Man pulled his mask back down and sighed contently.

"Alright Officer..." he opened the car door and shot a web up to a nearby building.

"...Thank you. I really mean it." As he closed the door, Jefferson rolled the window down.

"Hey Spider-Man!"

"Yeah?"

"You can talk to me anytime." Spidey nodded. Davis watched as the kid swung across the city before zipping out of sight. He chuckled to himself.

"Hmm. Good job, kid. I'm sure your dad is proud of you..."

Davis drove back to his neighborhood, coming home to see Miles sleeping peacefully on his bed. As he looked inside his room a he caught sight of a mask sticking out of Miles' backpack. He shook his head as he tucked it in.

"Miles... it's like you're hoping we'd find out. If your mom knew, she would freak..." As Jefferson closed the door he looked once more at his son.

"Goodnight, Spider-Man."


End file.
